Question marks have been raised about the business that AC Milan conducted during the summer transfer window on the back of winning the Scudetto.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (via PianetaMilan) writes this morning that excluding Tommaso Pobega – who returned to Milan from his loan at Torino – six new faces arrived at Milanello this summer for a combined cost of €49m excluding bonuses.
They are Divock Origi, Sergiño Dest, Aster Vranckx, Yacine Adli, Malick Thiaw and Charles De Ketelaere, so therefore an experienced player (the former Liverpool forward) and five talented Under 23s. Two defenders, two midfielders and two strikers.
It was therefore legitimate to expect at least half of the acquisitions an important contribution of goals and assists, but so far the summer additions have yielded just one goal (Origi vs. Monza) and two assists (De Ketelaere vs. Bologna and Origi vs. Monza).
That is a very low yield for players who on paper should have offered new attacking solutions to the Rossoneri. In Pioli’s plans, Origi should have acted as an alternative to Olivier Giroud in the role of centre-forward, but the Frenchman has been overused due to his injuries.
De Ketelaere should finally have provided Milan with a modern attacking midfielder who provided runs in behind, goals, creativity, assists and something different to Brahim Diaz, but he is behind the Spaniard in the pecking order now.
The €35m including bonuses paid by the Rossoneri must be weighing on CDK – who has started the last five games on the bench – and while the 21-year-old will be awarded time and patience he appears a faded copy of the talent seen back in August and before that.
Then there is Sergino Dest, often out due to injury, and Vranckx who – just like Adli and Thiaw – has not had much playing time due to being excluded from the UEFA Champions League list.
The proverbial patience of Milan with young players helps and will certainly contribute to ensuring that there is an increased contribution in the second half of the season, but more is needed while Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli look unstoppable.
